Good Men in a Storm
by jesswood
Summary: Arizona and Callie are enjoying their happy life, when suddenly the unexpected and the terrifying occurs. Thanks to the loving support of each other, the two women get through a tragedy, and end up standing next to each other on the other side of it all.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Good Men in a Storm

Description: Arizona and Callie are enjoying their happy life, when suddenly the unexpected and the terrifying occurs. Thanks to the loving support of each other, the two women get through a tragedy, and end up standing next to each other on the other side of it all. (Calzona Fanfic)

Background: Takes place after episode (7x20) White Wedding, but a few years in the future. Calliope and Arizona are still living in the apartment, with Sofia. Mark and Lexie got back into a relationship, because Mark wasn't actually living with the baby. Meredith and Derek worked out their differences brought out from the clinical case, and became the parents of little Zola. Cristina and Owen are still together, and are the parents of a little boy named Tyler.

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters, and take no credit for any of the names, concepts of people, or anything to do with Grey's Anatomy.

Note: I apologize for any inaccuracies concerning medical terms/procedures, and any spelling/grammatical errors in this fanfiction. I'm not a professional, and only could write about what I researched. Also, this is my very first fanfic ever, let alone about Calzona. I hope you enjoy! Reviews are welcome! :)

CHAPTER 1

As Callie walked through the door to the apartment, she threw her keys and purse onto a side-table, and walked towards the couch when she spotted her wife. "Hey there," Callie said softly to Arizona, as she leaned down to place a kiss on the top of her head. "How are my two favorite girls?" she asked, reaching her hand forward to tickle Sofia's tummy. The girl giggled and squealed, "Mama, mama, guess what?" Callie and Arizona both chuckled, and as Callie took a seat beside Arizona, she replied, "What, what, what?" Sofia bounded up onto their laps and pointed to her mouth, and presented her best cheesy smile. "See? I lost a toof while you were at work, mama. Mommy helped me wiggle it out and…and I put it under my pillow so dat the toof-fairy can come and give me a surprise!" Callie was beaming with pride, and Arizona could tell. The blonde spoke up, "She's right. I was so proud of her! She wasn't even scared or anything, actually she was super brave. Weren't you, big girl?" Sofia nodded and grinned her now-slightly-gapped smile. Callie smiled and kissed her daughter's cheek, "That's awesome, sweetie. I am so proud of you. Do you want us to put you to bed so that the tooth fairy can come faster?" she asked, secretly hoping to get some alone time with her wife. Sofia's eyes grew wide as she realized the possibilities, and nodded swiftly. The two women laughed and escorted their beautiful girl to bed, where she quickly fell asleep.

As Callie and Arizona closed the bedroom door behind them, and made their way back to the living room, Callie took Arizona's hand in hers and squeezed firmly but affectionately. "Thank you for handling that while I was gone. I really tried to get today off to spend with you two, but there was a gnarly case today. You wouldn't believe it really, this girl had, like six broken-" She was cut off abruptly by the blonde's lips against hers in a passionate kiss. Caught off guard, Callie's eyes first widened, then relaxed and eventually closed as the kiss grew deeper. The brunette placed her hand on the side of Arizona's face, caressing her gently as they finally broke off from the kiss. Arizona grinned, "You were saying?" Callie shook her head absentmindedly, "It's not…important…" she took a breath and kissed her wife again, slowly and with meaning. Arizona ran her hand down Callie's shoulder and arm, before whispering, "I missed you, today. In case you couldn't notice." Callie smiled and tilted her head, "Aww. I missed you too. You know you could have texted me or something, babe! I was busy, but not too busy for you." Arizona shrugged, "I figured the absence would make the heart grow fonder, ya know? That kinda thing." Callie smirked, "Ha…as if I could grow any fonder of you. Do you KNOW how amazing you are?" Arizona nodded, "I am aware of my status of awesome, yes." They both laughed and cuddled into each other, enjoying each other's company before the night required them to fall asleep.

The following morning, the alarm clock beeped on cue at 5 AM, causing the two women to groan and roll out of their close embrace. Arizona sat up on her elbows and looked at her pager, "Crap, I need to get going. Can you drop Sofia off at school today, babe? Or should I call Mark?" Callie rubbed her eyes slowly and nodded, "Yeah, sure, I can do it. When I drink some coffee and can operate a vehicle correctly." Arizona chuckled and kissed her wife's cheek, "Thanks babe. I'll see you at work later." She hopped up and was, somehow, already perky. Callie loved her wife, but 5 in the morning was a bit early to be so cheerful.

An hour later, Callie had caffeine running through her body, was freshly showered, and finally presentable to the public. She grabbed Sofia's backpack and called her name, "Come on munchkin, time for school." Her daughter ran out of her bedroom, and towards Callie, "Mama, did you SEE this?" She held up a 10-dollar bill to her mother, wide-eyed and full of awe. Callie clapped playfully, and gasped, "Oh my gosh! You totally scored! I mean, 10 whole bucks? Do you KNOW how much candy you can buy with 10 bucks? A lot, Sofia. A lot of candy." Sofia couldn't stop looking at the dollar bill in her hand, since it now held so much meaning for the future of her sugar overload.

After dropping Sofia off at school, Callie headed for the hospital. She had an 8 AM surgery scheduled for that chick with the six broken bones, and wasn't about to miss an opportunity like that. It turned out that the successful surgery was just what she needed, and got her pumped for the rest of the day.

At lunch, she saw Arizona sitting in the cafeteria at a table with Karev, and joined them. The two were talking about a Peds patient, and Alex sounded frustrated at best. Arizona was speaking, "Well, we'll order a CT scan and see where it goes from there, okay?" Alex nodded and took a big bite out of his hamburger, followed by a mouthful of french fries. Finally, the blonde turned to her wife and smiled, "Sorry babe! Tiny human talk. How's your day going?" Arizona asked, then sipped her drink through a straw. Callie set down her food and looked up with excited eyes, "Oh my god, babe. You wouldn't believe how awesome the surgery went! I am a freaking Ortho GOD. I am badass. And I am a God. I am a badass God." Callie's face turned smug, and she continued eating her lunch. Arizona grinned brightly at her wife, and rubbed her back affectionately, "That's so awesome Calliope, I'm glad your surgery went so well! And you're right, you're definitely the most badass Ortho surgeon around. This is why I married you." Alex just rolled his eyes at the mushy couple and stood up as he finished his food, "Robbins, I'll page you when the scans are in." Arizona nodded at Alex, and then Alex leaned towards her and spoke quietly so Callie wouldn't hear, "Dude, Peds is totally more hardcore and badass than Ortho." Arizona chuckled and nodded, and Callie narrowed her eyes at the two and then furrowed her brow, "Hey! No Team-Peds secret code right now. This is about me and my God-like surgery skills, remember?" Callie joked while munching on fries. Alex gave Callie a face, then stole a french fry of hers and left the room.

As Callie finished up her lunch, Arizona sat at the table, softly stroking her wife's knee under the table. Arizona finished her drink and set it down, and turned towards the brunette. "Calliope, considering your surgery went so well, I'd think that some congratulations are in order. Sexy congratulations. Don't you think?" Callie looked at the blonde's beautiful blue eyes, and raised her eyebrow, "Oh, I couldn't agree more, Dr. Robbins." Arizona giggled at the formality, it was kinda sexy when they played doctor with each other. "Well, Dr. Torres, considering I have an opening in my schedule for the next hour, I think that I might take a 'nap' in the on-call room not too far from here. So, if you have any 'questions,' please feel free to…come on over, and ask." Arizona stood up and winked, and walked off in the direction of said on-call room. Callie shook her head and laughed to herself, and waited a few minutes before getting up as well, throwing away her trash, and heading for the same room as the blonde-on-wheels.


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

As soon as Callie entered the dimly lit room, and closed the door behind her, she was pounced upon by a quite feisty blue eyed, blonde. Arizona's arms were immediately wrapped around Callie's waist, and playfully tugging at her clothes, while Callie's hands wandered her wife's body aimlessly. Their lips were pressed together relentlessly, only taking small breaks for oxygen. Arizona pushed Callie against a wall, and began placing kisses down her body, leaving her lips and traveling down her jawline, neck, and shoulders. Her hands pushed off Callie's white coat, and tore away at the navy scrubs beneath. Calliope pushed Arizona away from the wall, towards one of the beds that lay in the room. Now on top of the blonde, Callie took control by grabbing Arizona's pants and yanking them off of her long, sexy legs. The two of them giggled as they rolled around for a moment on the bed, playfully fighting for the dominant position. At last, Callie gave into the moment and let Arizona win the mini-fight. Arizona placed kisses down the brunette's stomach, leading slowly to her waist. As she began to pleasure Callie, Arizona moaned softly and ran her hands along her wife's thighs, and up to her stomach, bringing her hands back down as her nails gently grazed the skin. Callie tried to be quiet, but the intensity was far too much, and a loud moan escaped her lips before she could help it. The brunette squirmed at first out of anticipation, but soon began rocking her hips against her wife's face, her hands pushing her head further against her. "Oh my god," Callie whispered, "You are going to kill me, Arizona…" she said through strained moans.

After several minutes of this, Callie pushed Arizona back against the bed and began her work on her wife. She ran her hands along the blonde's long legs, and met them up at her groin. Placing kisses along her waist, gently teasing her until she couldn't take it any longer. "Ugh…Calliope, please just…" Callie grinned devilishly up into the lustful blue eyes staring back at her, and kissed her lips deeply and passionately for a few moments, biting her lower lip as she pulled away, then returned down back to her work. Arizona reached down and pulled slightly at Callie's hair, making her reach for her prize. Callie let out a low growl, and pulled against Arizona's resistance, returning to her previous position. She continued driving the blonde insane with her tongue, until Arizona's moans got louder and more frequent, matching the intensity of Callie's moves. The speed of her motions becoming faster and faster until Arizona screamed in delight, reaching her climax at last. Callie's speed lowered until it stopped all together, and then she crawled up her wife's body to kiss her softly and lovingly. "I love you." She whispered and nuzzled her face into Arizona's neck. Arizona's chest was rising and falling very quickly, but between breaths she managed to whisper back, "I love you too, more than anything," before kissing Callie's forehead, down the bridge of her nose, and finally her lips gently.

The couple laid there for maybe another 10 minutes, regaining their breath, and laying in each others' arms, not really saying much. Suddenly, a pager beeping broke the silence in the room, and both of the women sprung to action, checking which one was making the sound. Callie sighed and turned to her wife, "Crap, that's me. Looks like there might be post-op complications. Maybe I'm not as bad-ass as I thought…" She mumbled to herself as she quickly put her scrubs and white coat back on. Arizona smiled lightly to her beautiful wife and kissed her cheek, "You're bad-ass to me, no matter what. Now go kick some post-op ass," she said cheerfully. Callie grinned, despite her dejected news, at her adorable wife. "Thanks babe. And you go kick some tiny human ass. Well, wait. Maybe don't…do that. Just, kick ass in general, really." They both laughed, as Callie left the room, not really looking forward to where she was going.

Arizona got dressed as well, and left the on-call room soon after to check on her patient, and see if Alex had gotten the scans yet, even though she hadn't been paged. On her way, she ran into Teddy in the elevator. She leaned across her to press the "Floor 6" button and smiled at her friend. "How are you doing?" Arizona asked curiously, shoving her hands into her white coat's pockets. Altman sighed and looked over to Arizona with a hesitant smile, "Well, I would be doing great, if Henry wasn't having complications with his pancreas. I thought when he got on the Chief's clinical trial for diabetes, it would mean happy endings and a better future for us both…but lately, I've just been…scared." Teddy sighed again, then looked up at Arizona's eyes. Arizona's face was full of sympathy and she patted her friend on the shoulder, "I'm sorry Teddy. I guess these things just take time. You know we have amazing doctors here who are doing everything they can for him." Teddy nodded and half-smiled, "Yeah, I know…" Just then, the elevator opened on the 6th floor, and Arizona nodded to Teddy, "Keep your chin up Altman!" And stepped out of the elevator. Teddy smiled and nodded, "Thanks." as the elevator doors closed once again.

As soon as Arizona stepped out of the elevator, Alex ran up to her, "Robbins! Good timing, I was just about to page you. The scans are in. Check _this _out." He said, shoving the scans into her hands. Arizona gasped, and her eyebrows drew together in concern. "No, no, no. Crap. This is _not _what I wanted to see. Okay, this girl is gonna need surgery, and fast. That mass needs to be removed ASAP. Book an O.R. and prep the patient. I need to make a call, and then I'll be there." Karev nodded and headed off to his duties.

Arizona started walking towards an empty side-room to make a call, then burst into a roll on her heelies. As she approached the door, she pulled out her cell phone and closed the door behind her. First, she texted Callie, letting her know that she'd be in surgery for at least a few hours, and that she is calling Mark to pick Sofia up from school. Then, she proceeded to call Mark. He answered on the second ring, "This is Sloan." He said in his rough voice. Arizona began, "Hey Mark. It's Robbins. I need you to pick Sofia up from school today, okay? I'll be in surgery for the next few hours, and Callie is busy with post-op complications. Is that okay?" Mark's voice was audibly in a better mood, "Sure thing! I can pick up my girl." Arizona was relieved, "Thanks, Mark. Talk to you later," she finished. Mark replied with simply, "Right." And with that, the call ended. Arizona slipped her phone back into her pocket, and exited the room, heading for the O.R.


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

Several hours later, Arizona was in the middle of surgery, with Alex scrubbed in beside her. She was hands-deep in this child's abdomen, and just about finished with the surgery when she got a page. When she got a moment, she glanced down at it to see that it was a 911 from Callie. "Oh no, this can't be good. Alex, can you finish up here? Just need to suture the incision, which you can do, right?" Karev nodded in response and said, "No problem, Robbins, I got this. Go ahead." Arizona nodded and thanked him, then scrubbed out and ran towards Callie, who was nearby in a waiting room area. Arizona approached her with concern apparent on her face, "You're lucky I was just about finished. What's with the 911?" She asked, huffing for breath from rushing over. Callie was sitting leaned over, her elbows on her knees and her face in her hands. When she looked up, Arizona could see the tears in her eyes, and she gasped, sitting down beside her, and wrapping an arm around her shoulder, pressing her nose against her cheek and whispering softly, "Calliope, it's okay. What is it? What's happened?" She persisted, trying to figure out what was going on. Callie just shook her head rapidly, and pointed to one of the patient's rooms, and managed to let out the word, "Sofia…" through strained lips, and gasping breaths. Arizona's eyes immediately got huge, and she ran off towards the room.

When she entered, she saw Mark with a huge gash on his left cheek, still bleeding, as well as various bruises, blood splotches, and cuts covering his hands, arms, and neck. Arizona practically screamed, "Mark, what the HELL happened?" Arizona failed to notice Sofia laying in a hospital bed with doctors surrounding her until this moment, which caused her to burst into the crowd of doctors. "Talk to me!" She said desperately. Dr. Shepherd was examining her eyes, Dr. Bailey was checking her vitals, and Dr. Hunt was inspecting for any serious trauma wounds. Chief Webber ran into the room, and grabbed Arizona by the shoulder, "Robbins, I know you're scared for your daughter, but I can't have you or Mark, or Callie working on Sofia right now. I paged Dr. Stark, and he's on his way, as well as Karev who is finishing up your surgery. They will be here very shortly. It's gonna be okay. Right now, I think Callie could use your support. I'll patch up Mark when I get a second." Arizona was speechless, all she could focus on was her baby girl laying on the bed in front of her.

Once Bailey stated that Sofia was stable for the moment, Shepherd ordered a CT scan due to a slightly fixed dilated pupil. He wanted to check for any risk of a ruptured aneurysm, or brain bleed. The doctors rushed Sofia up to receive the scans, and Bailey promised Arizona that she'd keep her updated. Arizona could only nod, shock still coursing through her body.

Arizona turned back to Mark and walked up to him, pointing her finger at his chest, "What did you DO?" Mark, tears in his eyes, stammered, "I-I…there was…I picked her up from school. It w-wasn't my fault. IT WASN'T MY FAULT, ROBBINS. I wouldn't…there was an intersection, and it was my turn to go. It was my turn! And s-somebody ran the stop sign and crashed into Sofia's side of the car." Arizona sighed at him and shook her head, "God, this is my fault. I should have been there…I should have-…" Mark laughed a sick laugh, not a humorous one, and shook his head, "No. No, Arizona. This was nobody's fault but that god damned driver. If he's in this hospital, I swear to god…" Just then, Lexie entered the room and rushed into Mark's arms, whispering, "God, Mark, I'm so sorry. Are you okay? Is Sofia okay? Oh my god." She was panicking, and just holding Mark in her arms. Arizona took this opportunity to go outside the room to sit with Callie.

Arizona sat down next to her wife and wrapped her arm around her shoulders, and Callie buried her face into her in response. Callie was hysterically sobbing, and was having trouble breathing. Finally she lifted her face, which was bright red and covered in tears and ruined mascara, and spoke, "W-What if she dies? Or worse, what if she lives but is a vegetable for the rest of her life? What if she is brain-dead like I was and never comes back? Or what if she comes back and has to go through physical therapy like I did? Do you KNOW how difficult and frustrating that was? I don't want my baby to go through that. I don't want to watch her go through that. What if she…what if she dies, Arizona?" She looked into her wife's sky blue eyes and there was nothing but fear evident on Callie's face. Arizona took the brunette's face in her hands and looked into her eyes deeply, and spoke softly, "Calliope, I know you're scared. I'm scared too, more than anything. I know there are a lot of possibilities here, but one of the possibilities is that Sofia is going to be perfectly okay, and just has to heal from the bumps and bruises. There wasn't any horrible trauma, or obvious problem, and look at Mark…he's perfectly fine. It's going to be okay, one way or another. We'll get through this, I promise. Just breathe. Remember that you survived much worse. She's going to survive, and be fine." Arizona kissed Callie's forehead and hugged her tight. She was terrified, too, but she needed to be strong for Callie, especially. A few minutes later, Mark and Lexie joined them in the waiting room, and sat for what seemed like hours for news about the CT scan.

Finally, Bailey walked up to the group of them, and sat down in another chair. She took a deep breath and began, "The CT scan revealed a slight aneurysm-" Callie burst into tears again as an automatic reaction, blubbering, "My baby is gonna become a turnip…" Arizona hushed her gently and rubbed her back, then nodded to Bailey to continue, "A-And…Shepherd is gonna do a repair, so as to avoid any rupture or actual brain bleed. We caught it early before it developed too much. Shepherd has done countless of these procedures. Stark will be supervising for the good of the patient, since she is a child. You four are welcome to observe from the gallery, but you know the drill, no interfering. We are going to prep her for surgery and go to work immediately if you want to see her before she goes under, but she's still unconscious." Arizona thanked Bailey, and then the parents of the girl all nodded, and stood up to find her room.

Callie, Arizona, and Mark all entered the room where Sofia lay in a bed, awaiting surgery. Callie and Arizona both grabbed a hand of their daughter's, and held it tightly, while Mark stroked Sofia's hair gently and kept whispering, "I'm so sorry baby girl." Callie rested her head against Sofia's right hand, and kissed it softly. "It's going to be okay, munchkin. You survived one car accident, you can survive another. You got this, sweetie." Arizona sighed and reluctantly remembered the times she spent next to Callie's hospital bed, waiting for her to wake up. Praying for her to wake up, and Arizona didn't pray often. The blonde shook her head, as if to shake away the bad memories, and looked at Sofia's beautiful face. The scratches and bruises on her body becoming insignificant, invisible almost, as the parents cherished this moment dearly. They held her until Bailey stepped into the room, and said, "O.R. 2 is ready. We're moving her there now, so I need you guys to clear the room, please." The three of them nodded. Mark kissed Sofia's forehead, and the women each kissed the hand they were holding, then they all left the room and headed for the gallery above O.R. 2.


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

All three anxious parents, as well as Lexie for Mark's support, sat up in the gallery. They watched as the anesthesiologist put Sofia to sleep, and Shepherd prepared for the repair. Stark continually checked Sofia's vitals and made sure that the correct dosages of drugs were distributed through her body. Dr. Bailey was scrubbed in next to Shepherd for any other surgical support she could offer.

While they sat through the surgery, Lexie stitched up the gash in Mark's cheek, even though the Chief said he would do it. Callie sat perched against the window of the gallery, and Arizona alternated between pacing and watching through the window. There weren't many words exchanged during this time, just breathing, sighing, and crying. After a while, Arizona stopped pacing, and sat down next to Callie, holding her hand firmly. Callie leaned her head against the blonde's shoulder.

Suddenly, the group in the gallery heard from below, "Her BP is dropping, Shepherd, find that bleeder." All four of the people above shot up and stared down through the window. Moments passed for what seemed like hours, a machine beginning to beep as Sofia's blood pressure became dangerously low. At last, Shepherd exclaimed, "Got it! I got it." The machine stopped beeping and everybody exhaled at once, in relief. Callie sighed and whispered to herself, "Thank you, Shepherd." Arizona rubbed her wife's back and continued watching the surgery below.

An hour and a half later, Bailey looked up at the worried parents above, and signaled them to go into the waiting room, and they did. A few minutes later, both Shepherd and Bailey joined them to give them the news. Shepherd began, "Well, the repair was successful, and I fixed the bleeder that formed. Within a few weeks of recovery, she should be as good as new. Also, Bailey stitched up a cut that was on her forearm from the impact. As you know, she has many bumps and bruises, and she should be handled with care for the next month or two." All of the parents nodded and were all a little teary-eyed from relief and happiness. Callie whimpered softly, "Thank you so much, Shepherd," she said as she embraced him. Shepherd smiled and hugged her back, "You're welcome Torres. All of you. It was my pleasure, and I'm happy she's okay." Arizona nodded, "Yes, thank you..and thank you Dr. Bailey, and tell Dr. Stark we're very grateful as well for his assistance." Bailey nodded and patted Arizona on the shoulder, "I'm happy to help." she said, then walked off along with Derek after he had shaken hands with Mark.

Arizona turned around to face Callie and let out a deep breath, and hugged her wife tightly. "I told you it was all gonna be okay. We're gonna be okay." Callie nodded into Arizona's shoulder, closed her eyes, and hugged her tighter. A few moments later, Callie stepped back and whispered, "Let's go see her." Arizona and Mark agreed, and went to find Sofia.

As they entered the hospital room, they each took a seat by their daughter's bedside. Eventually, Sofia became conscious and opened her eyes. The adults stood up and were immediately at her side. Sofia tried to speak, but she struggled, so Arizona offered a cup of water with a straw for her daughter to sip on. Sofia drank the water, then looked up at her parents, "Where am I, mommy?" She asked, looking back and forth from Arizona to Callie. Callie smiled softly and leaned down to her daughter's eye-level, "Hi munchkin. You were in a car accident, and you got hurt. But your Uncle Derek fixed you up, and now you're going to be okay. But you have to heal, so you won't be able to run around or be crazy for a few weeks, okay?" Sofia became a little frightened, and her eyes welled up with tears as she listened to what Callie explained. Arizona leaned down as well, and stroked her daughter's hair, "You were super brave, though, sweetheart. You were so brave. Mama is so very proud of you." Mark held his daughter's hand and spoke next, "I'm very sorry that you're in pain, little girl. I love you very much and I'm happy to see you." He kneeled down next to her bed, and looked at her, and said under his breath to Sofia, "And once we get you outta here, we'll go buy you that big pink play house you said that you wanted, okay?" Sofia's face lit up, and nodded her head as she grinned. The two women just laughed and shook their head at Mark.


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5

Four weeks later, Sofia was pretty much completely healed. She had developed a close relationship with some of the nurses, and with Alex Karev who, along with Robbins of course, was on Sofia-duty. She now called him "Uncle Alex" and Alex admitted to loving the kid dearly. One day he said to Callie, "I gotta hand it to ya, Torres, your kid is pretty awesome." Callie just laughed and agreed, "What do you expect from such awesome parents?" Alex just laughed and walked off. Cristina had heard of the incident, and often brought her son Tyler to play with Sofia in the hospital, since they were close to the same age.

Once released from the hospital, Sofia returned to school, and the kids in her class threw a party in her honor. Arizona and Callie were very proud, and Sofia was overjoyed.

Callie, realizing that car accidents were sort of like the kiss-of-death in their family, invested in a bigger and safer SUV. She knew that accidents were inevitable sometimes, but the least she could do was get the safest vehicle she could for her daughter, and family.

On a day that Callie and Arizona both planned to take off of work, they spent the day with Sofia at the zoo, taking her to see various animals. The three of them walked hand-in-hand throughout the exhibits.

Meanwhile, at the hospital, Mark was still working. He received a page from the front desk, and made his way there when he had a free moment. He reached the desk and looked at the receptionist, "What's up?" He asked, full of energy and good spirits. The woman looked at Sloan carefully, then proceeded, "Dr. Sloan, there's a man here that requested to see you personally. He said it's related to the accident that you and your daughter were involved in about a month ago." Mark's expression slightly twisted at the mention of the incident. The receptionist pointed to a man standing a few feet away from the desk. He was about 6 feet tall, slightly tanned, with dirty blonde hair that was short but slightly shaggy. He had green eyes, and wore blue jeans with an olive-colored button up shirt. When Mark turned around towards the man, he stepped forward and held out a hand, "Hello. I presume that you're Dr. Mark Sloan? I'm Brandon Harrison." Mark shook the man's hand suspiciously, and tilted his head slightly, "I'm sorry, but have we met?" Mark asked. Brandon shook his head with a shy smile, and it was obvious that he was nervous about this encounter. He continued, "Uhh. Well, indirectly, I suppose. You see, I was the…I was the driver of the car that side-swiped you in the intersection. I was transported to Mercy West Medical Center, for whatever reason. I heard about your daughter's injury, I'm very sorry."

Mark stood there for a several moments, processing this information in chunks. His vision became blurred, whether it was from pure rage or tears, it couldn't be said. His fists balled up, and in an instant that he couldn't control, he punched Brandon square in the jaw, causing his body to fly against the wall behind him. Brandon steadied himself and held his jaw, "Yeah, that's kind of what I was expecting." Mark would have jumped on the guy and continued, but Owen Hunt had been secretly watching the meeting, and had his arms restraining Sloan before he could do anymore damage. "Hey, Mark, hey, it's all right. Just calm down, man. It was an accident." Mark was breathing heavily, and a crowd of people were staring. Owen dragged Mark backwards away from Brandon, who stood there rubbing his jaw.

When Mark had calmed down, Owen let him go, but remained present as the conversation between Sloan and Brandon continued, "Look, I know you hate me. I know I put your little girl in danger, and I'm so sorry for that. It was never my intention, and I'm really relieved and happy that she's okay." Mark nodded, "Yeah, me too. You'd have more than a sore jaw if the case were any different, God forbid." Brandon swallowed, then nodded, "Yeah…yeah, I know." One of the nurses had brought Mr. Harrison an ice-pack, to which he applied against his jaw. Brandon thanked the nurse, then looked at Mark and continued, "I have an explanation, though. I'm not here to try and justify what I did, or make excuses, but I just want to explain, okay?" Mark crossed his arms and leaned against a wall, and nodded to the man.

Brandon cleared his throat, and began, "I was just leaving my wife's…err…_ex_-wife's apartment. She just recently broke it off with me, for no apparent good reason, she's just bored, I guess. Anyway, I was leaving her apartment, having just picked up my stuff from her place. I had hit a red light a little late, and slammed on my brakes, causing my car to lurch forward and all my belongings, including my cell phone, to fall off the passenger seat and onto the floor. I didn't think much of it, and figured I'd just pick it up later. As I was approaching the intersection where the accident happened, my phone rang. Before I saw the stop sign at the intersection, I tried to quickly lean down and grab my cell phone from the floor, thinking maybe my wife had changed her mind. But obviously, things didn't go quite as planned. When I took my eyes off the road for one second, I ran a stop sign, and slammed into your car." There were tears in his eyes now, and he sniffled slightly, "I'm so very, very sorry for what I caused you. It was never my intention." Mark looked at the man, and saw the sincerity in his eyes. Having already punched him in the face, he figured it was fair enough to accept the fact that it was an accident, and everything had, after all, turned out okay in the end. Sloan nodded and spoke carefully, "I understand. Thank you for coming here. And I would say sorry about your face, but I'm not really. But I am sorry for your marriage situation. I hope it works out for you." Brandon simply nodded and left the hospital, feeling as though he did as much as he could.

Mark turned around and asked the nurse nearby for an ice-pack for his hand. That guy had a hell of a jaw. He couldn't decide whether or not he should tell Callie and Arizona about this encounter, but decided he probably should eventually. Maybe just not today.

Later that day, Callie, Arizona, and Sofia returned home. Sofia was exhausted, so the two women put her to bed almost immediately upon returning home. Within minutes, the little girl was fast asleep. Arizona went into the kitchen and poured the two a couple glasses of wine, and brought Callie's glass to her as they relaxed on the sofa. They sipped at the glasses then set them on a side-table and smiled at each other. Arizona leaned forward and kissed her wife's nose, "Guess what?" She said, tilting her head playfully as she looked into the brunette's eyes. Callie chuckled and asked as if she had no idea what the answer would be, "What?" Arizona kissed Callie's lips softly, then whispered, "I love you." Then kissed her again, this time more deeply. The blonde's hand caressing the side of Callie's face. As they pulled away from the kiss, Callie replied, "I love you, too," and smiled sweetly.


	6. Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6

After Arizona's trip to Malawi a few years back, she agreed to revisit the location every 2 months to check on the status of things there. Well, it was time. Arizona had her bags packed, and was pacing from her bedroom to the bathroom, back and forth, making sure she hadn't forgotten anything. It was a routine process by now, but she could never be too careful. Callie sat on the couch in the living room, watching her wife with a smile on her face. She couldn't help but find it cute when Arizona had her mini freak-outs.

Callie called to Arizona from the other room, "Got your plane ticket?" Arizona stopped in the hallway between the bedroom and the bathroom, with wide eyes, staring at Callie. "Oh God. OH GOD. Where did I put it?" Arizona ran off into the bedroom to look for it, and Callie busted up laughing. Arizona poked her head around the corner, out of the doorway, with narrow eyes and a suspicious expression on her face. "Calliope Iphigenia Torres. Where is my plane ticket?" Callie tried to stop smiling, but couldn't help it, and simply said, "Come find them." Arizona huffed over to the brunette, and promptly reached her hand down Callie's shirt, into her bra, and grabbed out the ticket. She held it out in front of her face, and said with all seriousness, "You're hot. _Really _hot. But I don't have time for this right now! I have to finish getting packed!" Callie snickered and got up to get herself a cup of coffee, and said, "Calm your pretty little blonde head…I wouldn't have let you leave without the ticket! _Ay dios mio_!"

Arizona stormed off, back into the bedroom to get her suit case, and rolled it out into the living room. At that moment, Sofia walked out of her room holding a new doll she had gotten for her brand new pink play house. She plopped down on the couch and held her doll tight against herself, and looked over at Arizona with her big brown eyes, and sniffled lightly. Arizona sighed, because she knew she wouldn't be able to resist her daughter's expression, and sat down next to her on the couch. "What's wrong, big girl?" she asked. Sofia looked down at her doll, then up into Arizona's bright blue eyes, and sighed dramatically, which caused Arizona to smile, and she began, "Mama…you're going to miss my very first school play when you're in Aff-ree-kah. I'm gonna be a _princess_ and I get to kick a frog!" Callie butted in with a short laugh, "I think you mean, _kiss _a frog, munchkin." Sofia nodded quickly, "Yeah! That's the word. I get to kiss a frog, mama. And you're gonna miss it! And I weally wanted you to be there." Sofia finished with a pout.

Arizona took a deep breath and bit her lip, looking up at Callie, who shrugged with a smirk on her face. Callie knew that Arizona would have a HARD time missing Sofia's first school play. Arizona had always promised herself that she would always put Sofia first, before work, and that she would attend every school play, dance recital, soccer game, graduation, no matter what it was or when. Callie nudged Arizona with her elbow, "Hey babe, maybe you can reschedule? Or make a call and ask someone else to go in your place. It's not that big of a deal. You go every two months…one absence won't kill you, or them. All you do is show up and say 'Yeah, this looks good.' Then fly back! Besides, you couldn't REALLY miss this beautiful thing being a princess and kicking frogs, could you?" She said with a smile, pinching one of Sofia's cheeks. Sofia made a face of concern and looked over at Callie, "Mama, it's kissing frogs. Not kicking, remember." Both of the women laughed and nodded. Arizona sighed frustratedly and thought about it for a couple moments, before looking back down at Sofia.

"_Fine. _Fine! I will call and see if somebody can go in my place. Because, honestly, Callie, our daughter is looking directly into my soul with those puppy-dog eyes, and I think she gets that from you. I'm in big trouble when she gets older and wants to borrow the car, or have a million bucks for the mall or something." Callie laughed and Sofia clapped her hands excitedly, "Yay Mama!" Arizona shook her head with a smile, then headed into the other room to make a call. Callie held up a hand to her daughter and said, "Gimme five!" They high-fived, then Callie said, "We make an awesome team." Sofia just grinned, then ran back into her room with her doll.

Thirty minutes later, Arizona came out of the other room and looked at Callie, "Well…I made a few phone calls, and it seems that Alex Karev has the credentials to fly over just this once and oversee things for me. I just have to go drop off my plane ticket to him. Right about now, he's packing like a bat out of Hades. Should be fun to watch! I'll see you in a bit, babe." She said cheerfully, then kissed Callie's forehead. Callie just said, "Alex Karev, really? Huh…okay! See you later."

Arizona pulled up to the spot where Alex currently kept his trailer parked, and got out of the car to go knock on the door. A red-faced, and slightly sweaty Alex answered the door, and said, "Hey, Robbins. You can set the ticket over there." He said, pointing to a table. He ran back over to his bed and stuffed a bunch of clothes into a duffle bag. Arizona laughed, and set the ticket down on the table, and said, "Okay. There you go…you now have one ticket onto Flight 18, to Malawi!" Alex moved past her and nodded his head, "Yeah, yeah…thanks Dr. Robbins." The blonde tilted her head, "You know, you can call me Arizona, Alex." Karev turned to her and raised his eyebrow, "Yeah, I know. I just like calling you Robbins, okay?" Arizona smiled and nodded, "Okay…" She leaned over and kissed his cheek, and patted his shoulder, "Thank you, Alex…for doing this. I know it's last minute and kinda weird, but I appreciate it." Alex half-smiled and nodded, "Yeah, no problem. I don't mind." The blonde opened the door to the trailer and started to leave, "I'll leave you to pack, now. Have a good flight, Karev." Alex looked over to her and nodded once, "Thanks. I will." Arizona smiled, and left.

Soon after, Alex was all packed and ready, and left for the airport. He got through security, and barely found his gate in time to make the plane. Luck was on his side, for now.


	7. Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7

About 14 hours into Karev's flight, otherwise noted as around 8 PM, Arizona was in the middle of a surgery, removing a tumor from a child's abdomen. Everything was going smoothly, just as planned, and another skilled Peds resident was scrubbed in beside her. As Arizona closed the incision, she was thinking about the delicious dinner she had planned with Callie after work, and she couldn't stop smiling from underneath her surgical mask.

After informing the patient's family that the surgery was a success, she headed to change into her normal clothes, and headed off to meet Callie at Joe's bar. As she walked in, she spotted her wife sitting at a table, facing away from her. She snuck up behind the brunette, and kissed her cheek. Callie gasped slightly and turned her head, "Oh hey there. Fancy seeing you here!" Arizona grinned and sat down on the opposite end of the table. Callie passed her drink over to Arizona, "Here, take mine. I'll order another." Arizona smiled, "Thanks," and took a sip of the alcohol.

Before either of them could say another word, Joe had turned up the TV from behind the bar, and the news was now on full blast throughout the place. Arizona and Callie couldn't help but turn to listen, as the newscaster announced, "Tonight at approximately 8:37 PM, an airplane departing from Seattle had internal engine failure and began to fall out of the sky, resulting in emergency measures to be taken. Despite the best efforts of the plane's crew, the engine could not be saved, and the airplane crashed into the ocean. A search and rescue team has been sent to look for survivors, and identify bodies, however it is feared that no one has or will survive due to the threat of hypothermia, unfortunately."

Arizona was immediately wide-eyed at hearing that the plane had departed from Seattle. Callie looked at Arizona with alarm, and sat there thinking for several moments before finally speaking, "Look…a lot of planes leave Seattle every day. It could be any plane, going anywhere." She reached over to hold Arizona's hand on the table. Arizona swallowed hard and looked up at her wife, "Yeah, which includes the plane that Karev is on! His flight….it was…Flight 18. We need to find out what flight it was, Calliope." Callie nodded, and they both looked up at the TV again, hoping for more information.

The longer they listened to the television, the sicker Arizona felt. There was seemingly a hole in the pit of her stomach, and she couldn't shake the feeling no matter how hard she tried. Callie had moved over behind Arizona, rubbing her back affectionately, and continually kissing her temple, providing support in any way she could. Suddenly, they heard the newscaster again. "It has been reported that 87 of the 120 passengers aboard Flight 18 have been found and pronounced dead at the scene. They are still identifying and searching for bodies."

There were tears streaming down Arizona's face, and Callie could say nothing. Their jaws were dropped, and a tearing sensation ripped through their hearts and stomachs. They both attempted to swallow the giant lump in their throat, but they could only choke out sobs and pound their fists in anger. They sat there holding each other for what must have been at least an hour before they even got the strength to stand up. They said nothing. Callie drove her wife home, and called the hospital to talk to Chief Webber. She had a difficult conversation ahead of her. She had a difficult couple of months ahead of her.

After speaking with Richard on the phone, her head pounded from crying. She had just realized she would have to tell Sofia that her "Uncle Alex" wouldn't be coming home, or seeing her school play. But then it dawned on her…Arizona. If she had boarded that plane, she would have been _dead _right now. Callie collapsed on the couch near her, and buried her face in her hands. She sobbed to the point of coughing. She couldn't breathe…she couldn't think. There was nothing but confusion, anger, and pain…yet some kind of strange relief. There was a window of happiness that she couldn't explain amongst all of this emotion. Maybe it was because she knew that her wife was safe and sound in the other room, though she was heartbroken and crying, and probably blaming herself for Alex's death. It was going to be okay, because Arizona was okay.

Callie somehow found the strength to stand up and walk towards the bedroom, where Arizona was, though she felt numb. To be honest, she couldn't even be sure she was walking…it felt more like floating. She sat down next to Arizona, who had her face buried in her pillow and was just laying there, crying, staring at the wall. Callie ran her hand softly down her wife's back, then curled up next to her. She knew that Arizona wouldn't be able to talk about this loss for a while. Right now, she just needed to be held, and that's what Callie could do. She couldn't bring Alex Karev back, but she could hold her wife. So she did. All the while contemplating different approaches to breaking the news to Sofia, who would be utterly devastated.


	8. Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8

The plane crash had, as it turned out, ended up being a complete tragedy. It was later confirmed that there had been absolutely no survivors, both from the passengers and the plane's crew. After this confirmation, any ounce of hope that Karev's friends and family held onto was immediately diminished. Because though there was hardly any optimism to be had in this situation, there was always the question of "what if" and the chance of a miracle…but this wasn't the case.

The search crew had indeed identified Alex Karev, and had his body respectfully sent back to Seattle where a funeral could be held. He had suffered head trauma from impact, burns from the fire, and organ failure as a result of hypothermia. The funeral would be closed-casket.

Callie waited until she had confirmation that Alex Karev was, without a shadow of a doubt, gone before she had to break the news to Sofia. Arizona had said that though she wished she could help, she just couldn't bear to deal with the ordeal, which Callie understood.

After picking up Sofia from school one day, Callie arrived home with her daughter, and called out, "Sofia, honey, can you come here for a minute?" Sofia set down her backpack, then skipped over to her mother, who was sitting on the couch in the living room. Callie picked her munchkin up and set her on top of her lap, before kissing her cheek and taking a big breath before beginning, "Sweetie, do you remember when your pet fish stopped swimming around the bowl?" Sofia frowned slightly as she looked up at her mom, and replied with a sad nod, "Yes. I miss Bubbles so much." Callie nodded, "I know. I miss Bubbles too. But he's in a better place now, right?" Sofia agreed with a nod. Callie swallowed and rubbed her daughter's back, "Well. A couple days ago…your Uncle Alex went on a vacation trip. But in order to get there, he had to go on an airplane." Sofia tilted her head slightly, not sure how her fish Bubbles and Alex were connected. Callie continued, "And…honey, you know how you got in a car accident a couple months ago? Well, sometimes airplanes can get in accidents too. Big accidents. And sometimes people don't survive through accidents. Uncle Alex was in a plane accident, sweetie. And it's makes us all very sad to say that he won't be coming back home." Callie's voice broke suddenly at the last sentence, and her lower lip quivered as she struggled to keep her composure in front of her daughter. She had to be strong for both Sofia and Arizona.

At first, Sofia didn't quite understand. Her eyebrows furrowed down and she looked up at her mother, who had tears in her eyes, and asked, "What do you mean? Is he going to live somewhere else?" Callie slightly smiled through her tears, and shook her head, then looked at her daughter in the eye and said softly, "Honey…Alex died. He's in heaven now." Sofia started breathing harder and her eyes teared up, "No. But I just saw him. He's alive. He's not dead, mama." Tears finally fell over Callie's eyes and streamed down her cheeks, gathering near her chin. Callie shook her head, "I'm so sorry munchkin. He is dead, though. We're having a funeral for him in a few days. He's in a better place now." Sofia, now angry, shot up out of Callie's lap and stormed into her room, and yelled, "NO. UNCLE ALEX IS ALIVE. I JUST KNOW IT. YOU'RE WRONG." And she slammed her door, running onto her bed and crying into her pillow. Callie sighed and wiped the tears from her eyes and cheeks.

Callie stood up and walked into her bedroom, where Arizona lay on their bed, reading a book about surgery, trying to distract herself. Callie swallowed, and asked, "Can I come in?" Arizona looked up from her book, and saw Callie's face and immediately her expression turned to one of concern and nodded, "Of course. Come here babe." She set down the book and held out her arms, gesturing her wife to come closer. Callie climbed onto the bed and snuggled herself into Arizona's embrace. Arizona softly stroked Callie's hair and held her tightly, as Callie began to whisper, "She took it badly. Maybe I did it wrong. I didn't know what to say…I tried to be smart about it so she'd understand…" Arizona kissed the top of her wife's head and sighed, "No, don't beat yourself up about it…it'll just take time for her to understand. It's hard for her…it's hard for all of us. I'm sure you did just fine, Calliope. Much better than I could have done." Callie hugged the blonde tighter, and kissed the side of her neck. "God, this sucks," the brunette huffed. Arizona just nodded absentmindedly in agreement, and continued rubbing her wife's back and hair.

After a few minutes, Callie slightly pulled out of the embrace and looked up at Arizona, "You do realize it could have been you, right?" Arizona looked away from Callie's eyes, then back at them, and nodded slightly, "Yeah. Of course. What do you think I've been thinking about in here? Why do you think I have to read these stupid, cheap surgery books?" She asked, picking up the flimsy book and throwing it back behind her, "Because I can't stop thinking that that could have been me, and that I'm the reason Alex is gone. I can't stop wondering if maybe I'd just never gone to Africa in the first place, that this wouldn't be happening." Callie looked down for several moments before looking back into her wife's tearful blue eyes, and she grabbed her hand, "Look…I know this is…horrible…and that you feel guilty, but it's not your fault the plane crashed…it's the engineer's or whatever!" She squeezed her hand tighter and got closer, "You can't blame yourself, Arizona. You didn't know. And you're alive, and I'm so happy and I love you so much. I can't…I won't….think about what would have happened if you left me. I would have died right along with you, and then Sofia would just have Mark, and God knows that wouldn't go over well." They both laughed through their tears and Arizona reached forward and wrapped her arms around Callie, and whispered, "I love you too…I love you more than anything."

The two agreed that they just wanted the funeral to be over with, so they could pay their respects and move on from this tragedy, because all this crying made it difficult to be a surgeon. The entire Seattle Grace hospital was a mess, and it was evident that there would be a huge turn-out to the funeral. As the appropriate preparations were made for the funeral, life seemed to drag on at a glacial pace.


	9. Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9

**Author's Note: Hey everyone! I just wanted to say thank you all so much for reading, and taking the time to write reviews. I read them all, and appreciate them so much. Sorry for the pause between chapters, real life has been keeping me from writing, but I will finish this story if it kills me! Keep in mind that this is still my first fanfiction ever written. After reading a couple others in the meantime, I've realized how I am lacking in detail and plot development, and I'm trying to grow as I go along. Please feel free to review and leave constructive criticism. Also, I will make sure you know when the end of the story is, I'll make it blatantly obvious by putting something like "The End" or something, so until I do that, just keep assuming I'm writing more! Thank you all again. Onto Chapter 9.**

Callie had just finished dressing Sofia in her attire of an all-black dress, complete with a darkly colored sweater as she sat down on the end of the bed, looking at Arizona. The blonde had put on black slacks that complimented her long legs even more, if that were possible, and a slim-fitting blazer that covered a dark blouse. She turned around and looked into Callie's chocolate brown eyes before asking, "Is the blazer too much?" Callie shook her head softly and returned the gaze back into Arizona's baby-blues, saying, "No, not at all. You look great, babe." Arizona doubted it, considering she had been having a difficult time keeping any make up on her face without crying it off.

Callie stood up and grabbed her wife's hand in her own, pulling her away from the mirror she had been staring into for the past hour, and over towards the bed. As Callie sat on the edge once more, she looked up at Arizona and affectionately squeezed her hand. "We're going to get through this, and then it'll be over, and we won't even have to think about it again, okay?" Arizona sighed and nodded, still looking down. Callie watched her walk out into the living room and call for Sofia, and she shortly followed her out. Sofia walked out of her room, and closed the door behind her. Arizona bent down to eye-level with her daughter, "Are you ready, big girl?" she asked, flashing her a bright smile that was contagious, though forced. Sofia looked up at her mother with earnest eyes and nodded, but didn't speak a word. Arizona gave Callie a knowing look, then stood back up and held her daughter's hand as all three headed for their car.

On arrival to the service, many people were already there, crowded outside the church, but not yet inside…perhaps too unwilling to face the reality of what was inside that casket. At first glance, Callie spotted many people she hadn't seen in a while, such as Alex's brothers and sister along with his mother, and also most notedly was Izzie Stevens. Meredith was standing next to her, rubbing her back supportively as Izzie cried hysterically and shook her head over and over. Callie nudged Arizona in the side slightly and whispered, "You see Izzie?" nodding her heads over towards her direction. Arizona stopped and looked where Callie had nodded, and nodded as well, "Yeah." Callie sighed and said under her breath, "Last time she was at a funeral, she went so crazy that she started laughing hysterically instead of crying. Of course…at the time, she did have cancer. Maybe that had something to do with it." Arizona just raised an eyebrow and looked at her wife quizzically. Callie shrugged and walked over to the crowd of people, most from the hospital. Some were just friends and family of Karev.

Sofia suddenly broke her hand-hold with Arizona and ran over to Cristina, who immediately bent down and hugged her god-daughter tightly. "Hey there mini-Torres. Hey, hey. It's okay." She said softly, comforting her as she gave Arizona a look that seemed to say, "_I got this." _Arizona nodded and turned back to the others. She spotted Callie hugging Mark Sloan, who was clearly trying to hide the fact that he was crying by burying his face in Torres' shoulder. Arizona made her way over to Teddy, and embraced her quickly in a tight hug. As they pulled away, Teddy inquired, "How ya holding up?" Arizona just shrugged half-heartedly and said simply, "About as good as any of us, I guess." Teddy just nodded.

They were all interrupted by the Pastor poking his head outside the door and announcing that the service was about to begin. The group of them began to reluctantly file into the church. As Callie entered the room, the first and only thing she could see was the casket at the front of the room. It was surrounded by lit candles and flowers, and a display case held a large, handsome picture of Alex Karev smiley widely. The picture wrenched at her heart, and pulled her stomach up into her throat, causing a lump to form and her eyes to once again tear up. As the two women took a seat beside each other in the pews, Sofia returned to Arizona, and sat in her lap. Arizona held her tightly, and Callie turned her head in an attempt to hide her tears from Sofia.

Beautiful music began to play as the service began. Many people spoke, sharing stories and experiences, as laughs full of tears were provoked. The nostalgia was almost tangible in the air, and the tears falling towards the earth were almost audible. Family shared far-away memories, as friends revealed closer, more recent recollections of Alex. Eventually, came Arizona's turn to speak. She slowly stood upon shaky legs, and as she took a step forward, Sofia grabbed her hand and whispered, "Mommy, I want to say something." Arizona looked her daughter in the eye for only an instant, before deciding to allow it, and walked up with Sofia to the front of the room. Arizona stood behind Sofia and held her hand, "Go ahead sweetie," she encouraged. Sofia nodded and took a big breath before beginning, in her small, delicate voice.

"Uncle Alex was one of my bestest friends. When I was in da hospital, he would always bring me lots of chocolate pudding, and rent me Disney movies. He would let me listen to his iPod, and make me laugh with his funny faces. I…" She sniffled, "I loved him so much. And I wish…that he didn't have to go away. I miss him more than I ever missed my fish Bubbles. But…" She paused momentarily, looking up at Arizona, "Like my mommy says, he's in a better place now." She swallowed and looked back at the audience, then sat down next to Callie, as people applauded and wiped tears and smiles off their faces, and returned their attention back to Arizona.

Arizona had a wistful smile on her lips, and said, "Thank you big girl, that was beautiful." She looked down for a moment, then directed her bright blue eyes, glistening with tears, back at the people sitting in front of her. She sighed and looked up at the ceiling, blinking several times in an attempt to clear the tears away, then began…

"Alex Karev was many things. He was an amazing surgeon, obviously devoted to his job, and took pride in it everyday, as Sofia proved just seconds ago. He was a hard-worker, and strived to achieve the best care for his patients possible. He was a great friend, and brother, and son…always there when you needed him, even if his attitude didn't quite show it…" a few people in the audience chuckled knowingly, others wiped their noses audibly, "He always jumped at a great opportunity to learn, to grow. And that's why he accepted my offer to replace my position in overseeing the African clinic this month. I had other obligations at home, and so I called Karev to see if he would like my spot on the plane." Arizona took a moment to compose herself once again, for tears had filled her eyes. "He willingly and happily took my spot…on the plane." Her voice broke ever so slightly as she continued, "But that plane crashed. And you know, I feel like if maybe I hadn't gone to Africa in the first place, none of this would have happened-" She was rambling quickly now, and she knew it, but she couldn't stop herself. Awkward glances were exchanged between people in the audience, but they listened nonetheless, "So many crappy things have resulted from me going to Africa, and sometimes I wish that I would have just never gone. I know…or I like to believe…that things happen for a reason…but Alex, there was no reason for this." She looked up towards the ceiling, as if speaking to Heaven, "I'm so sorry, Karev. You deserved so much better." She looked back down to the people in front of her and whispered one last, defeated, "I'm sorry…" and took her seat back by Callie in the pews. People clapped, like they did for every speaker.

After a video compilation of pictures of Alex, along with friends and family, people drove their cars to the cemetery to watch his casket be lowered into the ground. His family and closest friends placed rose petals upon the wooden box, and stood watching as he gradually disappeared lower and lower into the earth. People spoke their last words to him, and paid their respects for several minutes before they covered the six-foot hole with soil slowly. Callie reached over and intwined her fingers between Arizona's, gripping tightly, secretly grateful that it wasn't her that they were burying. Of course she didn't want it to be Alex either. She was just so relieved that her wife was standing next to her right now. She closed the distance between them, and wrapped her arms around her waist, resting her chin on the blonde's shoulder, and kissing the side of her neck softly, providing comfort and support.

Half an hour later, the three were driving back home with Sofia passed out in the back seat, exhausted from crying her little eyes out. Callie was driving, and Arizona was staring out the window. Suddenly, she looked towards her wife. She checked behind her in the backseat to make sure that Sofia was asleep for sure, and then reached over to Callie's thigh, stroking it softly before whispering, with a slightly seductive grin, "I love you." Callie looked at her wife's beautiful blue eyes and her heart melted immediately. After all this time, Arizona still gave Callie butterflies. She smiled and returned her eyes back to the road, "I love you, too." Arizona scooted closer to Callie and leaned over, kissing her on the cheek once sweetly, then lingered a moment near her neck, letting her warm breath fall over Callie's skin, giving her goosebumps. "Hey, whoa there blondie. I am _trying _to drive. You know we don't have a great history of driving incidents, here. We're almost home…" Callie said with a hint of sarcasm in her voice, she looked over to Arizona with an amused smile, and Arizona giggled and nodded, leaning back over to her side, "Fine, fine.. But just wait 'til we get Sofia into bed." Arizona didn't look at Callie when she said this bit, and Callie looked over at her wife with surprise, her jaw ever so slightly agape. Arizona just looked forward, a devilish grin on her face that caused Callie's heart to skip a beat, then proceed to race.


	10. Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10

**Author's Note: So I just went through my email for the first time in a month, and I saw that a bunch of people have favorited and subscribed to the story, and I just wanna say thank you so much for sticking with me through my first fanfic. It gives me inspiration to continue writing, and I truly appreciate it. Please review if you have time, it makes all the world of difference to me. :) If not, thank you all the same for reading. **

**This chapter literally took me all day to write, LOL. So I hope you guys enjoy. **

Upon returning home, Callie picked Sofia up out of the back seat, and Arizona opened the door for her wife to walk through. As the brunette passed her, she caught a breath of her perfume which was a light vanilla that was extremely intoxicating. Arizona drew in a deep breath, and slowly exhaled as she closed the door behind her. She made her way towards their bedroom to change her clothes before Callie joined her in the room, and as she began shedding her clothing, her mind raced a mile a minute.

_Maybe this is the wrong time. What if she's not into it right now? I mean, we did just get back from a funeral. But I just love her so much, and my god, her ass looked super hot in that outfit. _Arizona shook the thoughts of desire out of her mind, and continued, _I'm not over anything yet…I'm not denying that I'm still in mourning. But right now, I just need a distraction. I need to feel good…I need to feel-_ her thoughts were abruptly cut short as Callie came up behind her, wrapping her arms around the blonde's waist tightly. Arizona let out a very small moan of delight and turned herself around in Callie's arms, wrapping her own arms around the beautiful Latina's neck.

Arizona crashed her lips into Callie's passionately, pressing her towards a wall as she pinned her there. Arizona had already undressed down to only her bra and panties, but Callie was still fully clothed. Arizona pushed her harder against the wall with her hips, her hands falling to the bottom of Callie's shirt, she tore it up and over her head eagerly, tossing it aside onto the floor. As this happened, Callie was pushing down her pants, and wiggling out of them, one leg at a time…though it was difficult with Arizona's yearning hips thrusting against her own. Callie used her body weight to push Arizona off her, though still holding her face, and backwards towards the bed. The brunette was straddling the blonde now, and crawling slowly higher on the bed, as Arizona inched backwards slowly on her elbows, continually kissing her wife all the while. The women giggled with heightened excitement, and Arizona whispered almost sheepishly, "What if Sofia wakes up and hears us? Oh god, that'd be bad." Between kisses on Arizona's neck, Callie shook her head assuredly, "Not a chance, that kid is out cold. And just _try _to be a little quieter than normal, okay?" Arizona rolled her eyes, "Okay…but you're the one who screams," she said with a knowing grin. With that, Callie attacked her again with impassioned kisses, her tongue brushing along Arizona's lower lip, signaling that she wanted in. Arizona willingly complied, and their tongues entwined and brushed one another for several fiery moments.

Arizona suddenly rolled over on top of Callie, now straddling her lap, she giggled again and said, "You know I like to go first…gives me something to look forward to." She winked and reached forward, unclasping Callie's bra, pulling it away from her chest, revealing her perfect breasts. Callie raised her eyebrow at Arizona's sudden dominance, and made small sounds of pleasure as Arizona began running her hands slowly along her chest. The blonde cupped both of her wife's breasts in each of her hands, gently pushing them together as she leaned forward to run her tongue painfully slowly around each of the nipples, feeling them harden beneath her tongue, and she smiled satisfied with her effect. Callie clenched her teeth in frustration, her hips already beginning to anxiously squirm. Arizona giggled at her girl's efforts, "Somebody's a little frisky, I see." Callie sighed out of frustration and whimpered, "Can ya blame me?" Arizona shook her head playfully as she enclosed her lips around Callie's nipple, sucking in for just the right amount of time before pulling back, releasing them with a slight 'pop'. She did the same to the opposite nipple before releasing the breasts, placing small and loving kisses down Callie's stomach, down to her waist, her hands running smoothly along her sides, seductively swaying her hips side to side as she ran lower and lower.

Callie bit her lower lip and let a foreign-sounding moan escape her lips that surprised even herself, but it didn't matter. Arizona didn't miss a beat, clawing her nails down her sides, bringing her hands to Callie's groin, stroking her wife's inner thighs, then reversing them back up towards her centre. She hooked her fingers on either side of Callie's panties, slowly inching them down her wife's legs…finally pulling them off her feet, she tossed them aside just like their other clothes. In one smooth motion, Arizona placed her hands underneath Callie's knees and pushed her legs back and up into the air, and practically dove forward toward Callie's groin. Placing kisses along her wife's folds for more time than Callie would have liked, causing her clit to pulse in anticipation, in turn resulting in the brunette's sudden outburst of desire, "God, Arizona, just fucking do it…please…I can't wait any longer." Arizona only smiled and silently acquiesced, finally allowing her tongue to flick Callie's clit quickly, running her tongue down to her opening, then sliding it easily back up to her mound. Callie arched her back and struggled to strain her moans. She clung to anything she could get ahold of…pillows, bedsheets, or her favorite choice: Arizona's hair. She grabbed a handful of the blonde locks and instead of pulling, pushed her harder onto her. She bucked her hips furiously as she grew closer and closer to her climax.

Arizona increased her speed, alternating between flicking her tongue and sucking. She enclosed her lips upon her wife's clit in a moment of heightened breathing, knowing Callie was dangerously close to losing control. Callie's breaths were better described as cries of passion, her head turning side to side as her hair thrashed violently against her own neck, and her body jerked, finally reaching her point of climax as she rode out the waves, throbs of intensity bursting through her. Arizona collected her wife's juices upon her tongue, and licked clean her fingers as well, before climbing seductively up Callie's body, kissing her hard, letting Callie taste herself upon the blonde's lips. Callie rolled Arizona onto her back and straddled her waist, catching her breath, as she placed sweet kisses along Arizona's neck and collar bone, momentarily sucking her pulse point before releasing it and running her tongue down to her shoulders.

Arizona sighed happily, "Mmmm…" Callie grinned and bit her wife's ear lobe and pulled playfully, whispering into her ear, "I love you.." then kissing her ear gently, and proceeded with her kisses down towards her chest.

Callie forcefully unclasped Arizona's bra, and said in a voice full of lust, "My turn…" She swung the bra around her finger by the strap before flinging it towards the head board. Arizona giggled at her sexy, yet slightly dorky, wife. The brunette ran her warm hands down the blonde's chest, sinking lower along her body, her face reaching eye-level with Arizona's groin, as her arms were still outstretched along her body, taking a nipple in each hand between her thumb and index finger, gently rubbing them. Arizona's breathing rate rose steadily, and her heart began to race, licking her lips and closing her eyes, trying to take in each warm touch that Callie placed upon her body.

Callie retracted her hands, bringing them closer to her face, which was currently buried in Arizona's pleasure point. The brunette ran a single finger along her slit, feeling the wetness glide beneath her fingertip. "Well, would ya look at that…" She said with a very smug smirk. Arizona sheepishly grinned and nodded innocently, but Callie just continued her teasing, never leaving her eye-lock with Arizona's baby blues. Looking at her now, she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that this was the woman she would spent the rest of her life with. With that thought heavy on her mind, she smiled and began her work. Her tongue slid along Arizona's clit, feeling it pulse responsively.

Arizona arched her back and whimpered as Callie's intensity grew. Callie brought her hand up to Arizona's groin, slowly circling her opening with a single finger, and she could almost feel Arizona's ache for her to be inside her. Her response was just a low, groan of lechery. After what seemed like hours for Arizona, she spoke up, "Calliope, unnngh. My god. I thought I was good at teasing, but this is border line torture." She took a deep breath, "I mean I know that I-" Callie bit her lower lip and slid that finger inside of her slowly, mid-sentence, and Arizona's face turned to that of an 'O-Expression' as she gasped in delight, "Ohhh!" And before she could even regain her breath, Callie inserted a second finger with ease.

Immediately, Arizona's walls clenched Callie's fingers, and Callie raised an eyebrow in amusement, "Hmm, already so close…" She pondered aloud, alternating her pace of thrusts between very quick and moderately slow. Arizona's only reply was a loud moan of ecstasy, pushing her hips harder and further onto Callie's hand. The brunette accompanied her fingers with her tongue, flicking the pink mound simultaneously. The combination of the two was too much for Arizona, and she began to quickly spiral downwards towards her climax.

Arizona gasped for breath and closed her knees, trapping her wife's head between her thighs, as she squirmed and pushed her body up using her feet. "Ohhhhh, fuck…." She gasped, her mouth wide and her eyes closed. Callie, satisfied with her accomplishment, freed herself from Arizona's grip, and stroked her legs lovingly. "Mmm, thank you baby." Arizona said happily, and leaned forward to kiss her wife sweetly on the lips. "No, no, thank _you…" _She corrected.

It was very late now, and the two knew they had to go back to work tomorrow. Not even bothering with getting dressed, they cuddled into each others' arms. Callie's arm wrapped around the blonde's stomach, and the other underneath her head, with Arizona snuggled into Callie's neck. They were happy. Maybe temporarily; maybe just for this moment in time…but they had each other. They were still standing next to each other after these major tragedies. Because of this, Callie had been reassured that Arizona wouldn't just bail anymore when things got hard. She had a renewed confidence in her marriage with this woman, and it made her feel alive. Deep down, though, they both knew they had a hard road ahead of them of mourning and loss, especially Arizona. But they knew, that so long as they had each other, they could make it through anything together.

Before drifting off to sleep, Arizona's last thought consisted of their daughter. Beautiful, dark curls falling upon her shoulders. Chocolate brown eyes…almost exact mirror images of Callie's, (one of Arizona's personal favorite qualities of both of them), and her small bright smile that she could swear was inherited from herself. After her image was formed in her mind, the little girl seemed to say, in her mind, _Mama, you have to come to my school play. You have to see me kiss the frog. Mama, please. _Soon, she faded out to total blackness.


	11. Chapter 11

CHAPTER 11

**Author's Note: Hi! I have to apologize for the wait in between chapters that has been happening lately. I just recently started having less time to write, but like I said before, I will finish this fic, even if it takes awhile. Again, I apologize for the wait and appreciate your patience and loyalty. :) **

**I've decided it's enough of the sadness and depressing Calzona, and time for more of happy and upbeat-ness, and hopefully lead into a good ending. I wanted to have another chapter about medical stuff, cuz I feel that's been lacking for a little while. Thank you for reading, and enjoy!**

Luckily, Callie had remembered to set the alarm before passing out the night before. It beeped loud and unrelentingly for several seconds before Callie groaned and stretched an arm out to turn it off. Her hair was a tangled and poofy mess, revealing last night's events in a single glance. Arizona rolled over, and opened one eye to look at her wife, and giggled, "Nice hair…" she said playfully. Callie rolled her eyes and got out of bed, "Yeah, was a bit of a rough night…" They laughed together as Arizona gradually started to get out of bed, and they both got ready for work.

Freshly showered and dressed, Callie poured herself a steaming cup of coffee out of the maker, and set the pot back in with a '_clink_' before turning around to see her daughter skipping over to her, and holding her hands out, "Mama, mama," she cried in a frantic excitement. Callie laughed at her sudden outburst and bent down slightly, "Yes, munchkin?" She replied. Sofia caught her breath before she began, "You remember what's tomorrow, right?" Callie pretended to think for an extended amount of time, before grinning, "Yes of course, dork! Tomorrow is your big school play!" Sofia had looked worried there for a minute, but her face immediately lit up. "Yes! We've been practicing every day at school, and I can't wait for you and mama to see it." Arizona had just walked in at that moment, and rubbed Sofia's back lovingly before bending down to kiss the top of her head and saying gently, "We wouldn't miss it for the world, big girl." Sofia beamed, and then ran off to get her backpack.

After dropping off Sofia at school, the two women headed to the hospital. Arizona had a surgery at 9 AM, and Callie had just received a page for an inbound trauma case with multiple broken bones, which exhilarated her. She pushed the gas pedal harder as she slid into a parking spot, and practically sprinted into the hospital. Arizona was still gathering her belongings from the car, and just laughed at her wife.

When Callie arrived at the scene, Dr. Hunt was trying to get the patient to hold still, for he was thrashing and crying aloud for his wife. Torres ran over and carefully pushed the shoulders of the man back, looking into his eyes and trying to hold his attention as she spoke, "Sir, I know it hurts. I know. I will try to get ahold of your wife as _soon _as possible, but right now I need you to hold still and stop thrashing, so Dr. Hunt here can examine your wounds and make sure you're okay." After a few seconds of residual squirming, the man calmed and his breathing evened out, never leaving Callie's eye contact, though he still cried out in pain a few times, which was more than understandable given his wounds.

Dr. Torres left the man's side to check his broken bones, starting at his leg. His femur was shattered, and Callie's brow furrowed. She spoke under her breath as she turned to Owen, "Crap. What the hell did this guy do?" Owen just shook his head and replied, "ATVing accident. He was thrown from the vehicle and slammed into a wall of rock." Callie just shook her head and spoke up, so all the nurses and doctors could hear her, "Okay. After we make sure he's stable, we need to put him under so Dr. Hunt can perform a repair on his abdomen wound, and I need to set his broken bones. He has at least one shattered femur, a fractured tibia, and possible broken ribs. We're getting the scans back soon, so until then, give him pain meds." All the nurses nodded and began checking his charts to figure out the proper dosages.

Four hours later, the surgery was finished, and the man's bones were all set. He had various pieces of debris in his wound that Hunt had to meticulously remove, and ended up having two broken ribs. However, at this time, he was stable and on his way to a painful, yet hopeful recovery. Outside of the O.R. Owen playfully punched Callie's arm, "Nice one in there. I haven't seen you so excited about anything since that last multiple-bone case. It's good to have ya back Torres." Callie just smiled and nodded, "It's good to be back," as Owen left.

A deep rumble invaded her stomach suddenly, and she held her gut and sighed. "Time for lunch, I guess." She made her way to the cafeteria, and grabbed a tray, walking over to the line to place a container of pasta salad and a bottle of water on it, then turned around to figure out where to sit. The moment she saw a head full of blonde curls, she knew exactly where to sit. As she took a seat next to her wife, she kissed the blonde's cheek gingerly and smiled, then popped the container open to her pasta and dug in. Arizona grinned and focused her ocean blue eyes on the beautiful brunette in front of her, "Hi. How'd your morning go?" She asked, placing a forkful of food into her mouth. Callie swallowed her pasta, and replied with excitement evident on her face, "It was actually really great. Well, for me. Not so much for Mr. Johansen. There was a shattered femur, fractured tibia, and some broken ribs. Not to mention a huge gaping wound." She took another eager bite of food before continuing, and chewing vivaciously, "I haven't been this pumped since before…" Her sentence trailed off, and it was understood what she meant. Arizona nodded and finished her serving of pasta, taking a sip of her soda, "That is so awesome! That guy will be good as new in no time, I'm sure." Callie nodded and smiled, "And what about your morning?" Arizona hesitated a moment before shrugging, "It was okay. I, uh…I had a risky surgery to do today. Low odds of survival, and the patient was already pretty far gone." Callie could tell where this was going and she placed a hand on her wife's shoulder, "Oh, I'm so sorry, baby," she said sympathetically. Arizona gave a half-smile and set down her soda, "It's okay. Part of the job, right? We can't save everyone." Callie agreed with a nod and kissed her cheek again, "The day's not over yet. Ya still have time to turn it around." Callie finished her meal and stood up, "I have to go check on my patient. But, I hope your day gets better. I love you." She reminded her, squeezing her arm lovingly. Arizona stood up as well, "I love you too," and then she placed a soft kiss on Callie's lips. "And thanks." When Callie smiled at Arizona, her eyes seemed to smile too, and it immediately made Arizona feel better. They departed from each other after a few moments.

On the way to see her patient, Callie ran into Mark. "Hey Torres," He remarked in a loud, rough voice. Callie walked over to stand near him, and grinned at her best friend, "Hey there Sloan." Mark placed the chart that was in his hands down on the counter in front of him and leaned against it, "How's it hanging?" He asked coolly. Callie sighed, and cut to the chase, "Are you gonna be at Sofia's school play tomorrow? She's been practicing forever now and it would really mean a lot if you could make it." Mark scratched his chin absentmindedly and adjusted his stance, "Callie, you know I'd love to…I'm not being a flakey dad here, I'm just booked up the ass in surgeries tomorrow, and you know there's nobody here half as talented as me." Callie crossed her arms and gave him a look that screamed, _"You better fucking be there." _Mark seemed to read the look and he threw up his hands in defense, "Cal, I don't know what you want from me here. I love Sofia more than anything, but you said you'd record the play, and I can watch it back with her. I have people here relying on me!" Callie shifted her weight from one hip to the other, and locked her knee into place firmly, "You have a DAUGHTER relying on you, Mark! And you know how fragile she is since Alex-…" She stopped short, surprised even at herself for bringing up Karev. She knew that was a low-blow. Mark had a hurt expression on his face, and he leaned back against the counter again, shrugging defeatedly, "I'll see what I can do. No guarantees." Callie shook her head in disbelief, cursing rapidly in Spanish as she walked away. Mark stood, wide-eyed, and utterly confused at what had just happened.

Despite Callie's comforting words, Arizona knew her day wouldn't really get much better. Her next job was to explain to the parents of a child just how exactly her surgery had gone wrong. She had to lay down the details to grief-stricken, broken-hearted, bitter and hysterical parents who just lost their child to a surgery _she _performed. And nothing about this job was harder than that. She found Mr. and Mrs. Roberts, and brought them into the conference room, her hands full of files, x-rays, scans, and charts. This was going to be a long night.

Callie had Cristina pick up Sofia from school, and stay with her until she could get home. She had post-ops for Mr. Johansen, and was on-call for the rest of the evening. Everything was going smoothly for her patient, and she just wanted to make sure it stayed that way. Every so often, she'd check her phone for any text messages from either Arizona or Mark. The former needing any support she could get, and the latter needing to man-up and admit he was wrong. However, her inbox was empty, and she slipped her phone back into her pocket.

Upon returning home, Callie relieved Cristina from her baby-sitting duties, and watched through the window as she got into her car and drove off. Closing the shades, she walked over to the hall closet and opened the door slowly, looking for a box marked, "Electronics." At last, she spotted the box way up on a shelf, and she extended her tip-toes to reach the dust-covered container. She pulled it down, and dusted it off briefly before opening it and reaching inside. She pushed past old CD players, a broken lamp, and an original Xbox before finding her goal. A digital camera with a video recorder. Once retrieved, she pushed the box back into the closet and sat down on the sofa with her finding, looking through the pictures already on the camera. It was Arizona's, but she figured she wouldn't mind if she used it for the play. As she got further and further into the memory of the camera, she found the pictures of when Callie was in the hospital, and Sofia had been born only days prior. Callie smiled to herself as pictures of Sofia's tiny body filled the display screen. She continued flipping through the pictures until she came to one that made her stop. A picture of Arizona, gash on her forehead and all, laying with Callie in her hospital bed, sleeping. Somebody else clearly took this picture, possibly Mark or Bailey. Tears welled up in her eyes, and she set the camera down on the coffee table, leaning over her knees and burying her face in her hands. The sight had broken Callie's heart. She knew just how terrified Arizona must have been in that situation, and she had never seen a picture of Arizona during the time. Her only memories included those of flashes of black and bright lights, tubes and wires and needles, and indescribable fits of pain. Oh, and...singing. For some odd reason she remembered singing. But she had never seen the sight from this angle…this perspective brought to surface a whole new slew of emotions. She had never loved Arizona more than this moment. After a few minutes, she got herself together, and started removing recent insignificant pictures to make room to record video for tomorrow. She would need it, since Mark wasn't going to make it, apparently. Callie wasn't sure if she'd be able to forgive Sloan for this. Not this time. Sofia needed this. She needed him to be there.


	12. Chapter 12

CHAPTER 12

An hour after Callie had sat down on the couch with the camera, Arizona drudged through the front door of the apartment. Her blonde hair was tied up in a messy bun, and her face was worn with extreme fatigue. Callie slightly jumped when she heard the front door creak open, and set down the camera with fumbling hands. She quickly grabbed a magazine and pretended to be reading it, before looking behind her and calling out, "Oh hey babe." Arizona threw down her purse on the kitchen counter, and went straight to the cupboard containing the wine glasses. Setting down a glass, and filling it with red wine, she took a sip and savored it in her mouth for several moments, before swallowing and again setting down her glass. "Hey," she finally said.

Callie stood up and walked over to her, grabbing hold of her wife's hand in hers and kissing the top of it. "Rough day?" She asked, tilting her head slightly and placing concern upon her countenance. Arizona took another extended gulp of wine before answering, "You could say that." She remarked, a type of frustrated amusement on her face. Callie knew it wasn't really the best time to bring up anything, but she was running out of time. The school play was tomorrow. "_Maybe the wine will loosen her up," _Callie thought to herself, hopefully. She walked back to the sofa and patted the spot next to her, "Will you come here, please?" She asked Arizona, putting on her best puppy-dog face that she knew Arizona couldn't resist. Arizona hesitated - all she wanted to go collapse in bed - but indeed, that face killed her every time, and she reluctantly complied, taking a seat next to her raven-haired wife.

Callie took the camera in her hands, "I got this out of the closet. I figured I could use it tomorrow, during the play. Is that okay?" She asked, trying to just carefully work her way into the topic. Arizona sipped her wine and nodded slightly, "Yeah, that's fine." Callie evaluated Arizona's face, debating whether or not to push forward. She decided, _what the hell. _"I was…looking through the old pictures, to see what I could delete. I got back to the pictures from when Sofia was born…" Arizona's eyes suddenly flashed a strange emotion - one that Callie couldn't quite describe. Perhaps pain…but it seemed deeper, somehow. The blonde set her glass of wine down on the side-table near her, and faced Callie, feeling there was more to her story, so Callie continued. "I found this picture…of you. Well, of us." She explained, showing Arizona the very picture in question, then bringing it back to her own viewing. Without looking up, she asked, "Who took it?" Then looked up into Arizona's suddenly teary blue eyes. Her voice was unexpectedly shaky as she replied, "Mark, I think. I dunno, I was asleep, as you can see."

Callie reached across from her, grabbing Arizona's hand, and speaking softly, "Arizona…" Tears now welled up in both of their eyes, "I'm sorry. I just was curious…" A strange, yet cute smile spread across Arizona's lips as the tears finally ebbed over and flowed down her cheeks, "No, no, it's okay. I would be curious too. It's just been an emotional day…" she started, but Callie stopped her, "I understand, baby. I just…I just wanted to tell you that I love you, so, so much. This picture reminded me once again just how extremely lucky I am to have you…and grateful that you stayed by my side during all of that. During everything. Even the events recently. I love you so very much, and the fact that I get to spend the rest of my life proving that to you…well, that makes me very happy." She finished, having taken both of Arizona's hands in hers and squeezing them lovingly. Arizona laughed happily through her tears, and threw her arms around Callie's neck, hugging her tightly. Callie hugged her back tighter, and they sat there for several minutes in silence. Arizona hadn't said anything, but Callie felt the response in her emotion and touch. That was all the response she had needed.

The following morning, Arizona awoke first. Since the two women both had the day off, there was no alarm to wake them up, and Mark had taken Sofia to school that morning. She carefully rolled out of Callie's close embrace, and sat on the edge of bedside, running her hands through her blonde curls which were tousled about. She stood up and walked over to her dresser, opening a drawer and pulling out a dark blue blouse, laying it on the bed. As she pulled her pajama shirt off, over her head, Callie stirred in her sleep and steadily rolled over to face Arizona, and opened her eyes slowly to see Arizona's bare chest. Callie rubbed her eyes, and grinned, "Well, _good morning," _she said in a raspy morning voice. Arizona giggled and put her dark blue shirt on, "Good morning, sleepy-head." Callie sat up on her elbows and looked at the clock, "Wow, crap. We slept 'till noon? Thank god the play isn't until 2:30." She mused, throwing the covers off her legs and getting out of bed. Arizona nodded in agreement and changed her shorts to black slacks, watching as Callie started getting dressed as well, not minding the view too much herself.

Once fully dressed, Callie walked into the living room, where she had left the digital camera the night before. She picked it up off the coffee table, looking at it for just a moment before placing it inside of her purse. Arizona followed her out shortly, then headed for the kitchen to grab something to eat. She found a blueberry muffin and took a bite out of it, watching Callie pace around the house looking for something. Arizona laughed to herself and raised an eyebrow, "Uhh, what are you looking for there, Cal?" By now, Callie was on her hands and knees looking underneath the sofa as she called out, "Have you seen my black shoes anywhere? I swear I left them in here last night…or maybe…" She got up and rushed towards the bathroom. Arizona grabbed her wife's arm, stopping her before she reached her destination, and forced her to look at her, "Callie. Your shoes are over there." She pointed to them, across the room, and then looked at her with her piercing blue eyes, "Calm down, a little, babe." Callie turned to get her shoes, and put them on, "I know, sorry. I'm just so anxious to see Sofia's first school play…I hope she gets her lines right. I remember my first play. I said 'magician' instead of 'musician' and then everybody laughed at me, and I never knew why until all the kids made fun of me the rest of the year. If those kids make fun of Sofia, I swear to god, I will kick their tiny asses." Arizona made a face at her wife and laughed subtly, "Well…she's been practicing hard. I'm sure she'll do awesome." Callie sighed after her ramblings, and nodded slowly.

A few hours later, Callie and Arizona were sitting in the school auditorium, in the second row. Callie had tried to get into the front row, but the last two seats were taken up by an old lady and a large, burly man - both of which Arizona had to restrain Callie back from creating a scene with in public over a couple of seats.

Once they finally settled in, Callie took out the digital camera from her purse and set it on her lap, toying with the settings to make sure everything looked good. Arizona looked around the room and surveyed the faces of all the parents, coming to the conclusion that she and Callie were by far the most attractive couple in the room. She smiled satisfyingly and wrapped her arm around Callie's back, to which Callie snuggled into.

Callie sighed frustratedly, turning to Arizona. "Arizona, what kind of father misses his daughter's _first _school play? I mean really. This doesn't happen every day, you know!" Callie fumed, and Arizona could tell this was really upsetting her wife. Normally, she'd be a little jealous at Callie's mention of Mark, but for some reason, she understood this time. She knew that Mark was Sofia's biological father, and he had a right to be at these sort of events, yet he wasn't. So she understood, especially from Callie's point of view; whose father was always at every performance, graduation, or sporting event. Arizona wasn't sure what to say, she just shook her head and rubbed Callie's back soothingly.

At 2:31 PM, an administrator stepped onto the stage as the lights dimmed, a spotlight focusing on the man in front of the microphone who proceeded to welcome everyone to the performance. Butterflies of excitement and anxiousness presented themselves in both Callie and Arizona's stomachs, and Callie quickly turned on the video recorder, not wanting to miss a moment. There soon after, the man exited the stage and the curtains began to split apart, opening to reveal a group of children in the middle of the stage.

Before a child could even speak in the play, Callie saw out of the corner of her eye, the side door to the auditorium open and leak sunlight into the auditorium momentarily before shutting again. Given the darkness, it was difficult to make out the form at first, but she soon recognized the familiar frame, and she gasped slightly, whispering, "Mark!" He tried to sneak through the third row, behind the two women, and sit behind them, but a fairly large woman got her personal space invaded by Sloan, and proceeded to hit him in the gut with her oversized purse, and he grunted slightly, before sliding into an awkward seat beside the woman and giving her a sheepish grin. Callie turned around, "Mark! What….what are you…" Mark just laughed quietly and said, "You thought I'd really miss my girl's first play? You know me better than that, Torres." Arizona just smiled at Callie, who turned back around and continued filming the play, a small smile of relief playing upon her lips.

Thirty minutes into the play, Arizona was grinning from ear to ear, and Callie was on the verge of tears from watching her little girl up on that stage, and Mark just kept whispering to the large lady next to him, "You see her? That's my girl up there," to which the lady held up her bulky purse threateningly, and Mark shut his mouth, looking back up to the stage. Finally, Sofia, in her princess attire, walked over to a little boy dressed in a frog costume and kissed him cutely on the cheek. At this point, Callie shrieked from cute-overload, grabbing Arizona's hand and barely holding the camera straight, tears of happiness crashing over her eyes at last. Normally, this kind of crap would annoy Callie, but it was an entirely different story when her baby girl was the star.

As the little boy in the frog costume retired from the stage, he returned shortly dressed as a prince. Sofia locked arms with the prince, and they walked to the front of the stage. They said in disjointed unison, "And they lived happily ever after." The curtains closed in front of them, and the audience began clapping. But Callie, Arizona, and Mark were all standing up applauding heartily and Mark was whistling with his fingers in his mouth. He kept exclaiming, "Did you see that? God that was amazing!" and Callie was wiping the tears off her face, feeling slightly foolish about crying once the play was actually over.

Despite her occasional waving at her parents, and hesitating at her lines a couple times, Sofia had done wonderfully in the play, and hadn't forgotten or confused any words. Callie was unbelievably proud of her daughter. The three parents had taken her out for ice cream afterwards, and Sofia was especially excited that Mark was there, even though he had to leave half-way through their ice cream outing because of a surgery scheduling.

The two women took their daughter home, and put her to bed. As Callie left the room, Arizona stayed a few extra moments, before Sofia drifted off to sleep, the blonde managed to whisper to her, "Sofia, I'm…really, really glad that I was here to see your play. You did so great, and I'm so proud of you. Uncle Alex would have been very proud, too." Sofia was too tired to reply, so she just smiled and nodded, and fell asleep. Arizona kissed her daughter's forehead, lingering for several moments, before tucking her in tightly. She walked towards the door, and stared lovingly at the little girl who had indirectly saved her life, before switching the light off.

Arizona joined her wife in bed, wrapping her arm around Callie's stomach and burying her face in her shoulder, and kissing her neck softly. She whispered into her ear, "We have a beautiful life. And I'm so…blessed, to be here right now. To spend it with you, and Sofia." Callie turned slightly, to face Arizona's eyes, which had small traces of tears within them. Callie didn't say anything, she just placed a soft kiss upon Arizona's full lips, and caressed her face. Though they had faced difficulties, tragedies, close-calls, and hard times…they were still together. They had each other, for the rest of their lives. No matter what happened, nothing could ever really be that bad - because they had each other. And that's all they needed.

**- The End -**

**Author's Note: Thank you so much for reading. All reviews are welcome and appreciated. I'm sorry if it felt rushed at all, I wasn't sure how to wrap it up, but I tried my best given this was my first fanfiction. I hope you enjoyed reading it, I know I had a lot of fun writing it and putting my own little twist into the Grey's Anatomy world. I might write another fanfic in the future, but since school is rapidly approaching next month, I'm not sure I'll have time for a while. **

**I'm looking forward to Season 8, and everything that Callie and Arizona will bring us. Maybe that will inspire me to write another fanfic. :) Long live Calzona!**


End file.
